But Ryan's folks say the report is simply, flatly, and utterly wrong. And Ryan’s folks are working hard to set the record straight.

Whatever motives the sources might have for spreading the story, says a Ryan aide, the story is "baseless and inaccurate."

"As Paul has said recently a number of times, he is opposed to this approach on the debt ceiling and those saying otherwise are wrong."

Pressed on his budget plan, the aide issued a flat denial: "As Chairman Ryan has stated before, this is not the House Republican plan. Nor did he present it as an offer to his colleagues. These rumors are simply wrong."

With respect to Obamacare, Ryan said the following in a video address to attendees of the Values Voter Summit this afternoon:

"We need to completely rethink government’s role in health care. That means we can never give up on repealing and replacing Obamacare."

And in a radio interview with Bill Bennett on Wednesday (audio here) Ryan reiterated the point:

Obamacare’s an entitlement, just like any other entitlement. So that, as far as we’re concerned, is in this conversation. Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, those are the big drivers of our debt. If you look in the op-ed I say we have to ultimately rethink all of our nation’s health care laws. I don’t know that within the next two weeks we have a viable strategy for actually repealing Obamacare, every piece of it. We defunded it. We passed a delay. We went after its pernicious effects. We’re going to keep going after Obamacare. I’m totally committed to disbanding this law, because what we’re learning soon here is that it’s going to do so much damage to the country. Premiums are skyrocketing, people are losing the coverage they had, businesses are knocking people down less than forty hours a week. It’s just terrible.

So, no Paul Ryan is not "surrendering" on Obamacare. My guess is that the story was leaked by someone who wanted to knee-cap Ryan as he tries to navigate a deal. But saying he supports a plan that he clearly does not... isn't good journalism. And it's not good for conservatives, who could use a double dose of good information and common sense.

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